Effective collection, management, and control of information have become a central component of modern business processes. To this end, many businesses, both large and small, now implement computer-based information management systems.
Data management is an important component of computer-based information management systems. Many users now implement storage networks to manage data operations in computer-based information management systems. Storage networks have evolved in computing power and complexity to provide highly reliable, managed storage solutions that may be distributed across a wide geographic area.
As the size and complexity of storage networks increase, it becomes desirable to provide management tools that enable an administrator or other personnel to manage the operations of the storage network. One aspect of managing a storage network includes the monitoring and diagnosis of the health of communication paths in the storage network.